And following today's theme of "Beer in the News," the New York Times wrote a great article about lower alcohol beers. We here at DrinkCraftBeer.com have been digging this idea a lot recently. Double IPAs, Imperial Stouts and Barleywines are great, but when you're out with friends you need something easier. This is DrinkCraftBeer.com... not PassOutAfterDrinkingCraftBeer.com. Our whole ethos is that beer should be social and fun. The "social" aspect is a big part.
Because of this, we're really happy to see some lower octane brews getting attention. While we're in the waning days of summer, I suggest everyone go out and drink some session beers this week! There's going to be plenty of time to have an 11% Imperial Stout warm you by the fire this winter. Have a barbecue, have some friends over, be outside and enjoy something under 6% abv. I know I'm going to.
In their Food & Wine section, the top story on the Today Show's website is about canned beer and how it's getting more popular. An interesting article that proves that craft beer is getting ever more pervasive in our culture. It's a fairly good selection being that they featured 5 beers and are a mainstream show.
They also pair each brew with an entree and a snack, which is pretty neat. I think the Today Show should have Devon and I come on to do one of our tasting events. You know that'd be a fun show!
We here at DrinkCraftBeer.com are definitely glad to see beer, especially canned beer getting more attention. So happy in fact, that I'll totally ignore that they talk about the only-recently-canned Fat Tire as "a cult canned ale among mountain bikers in Colorado in the early 1990's." While it's been around a while, it was only canned this year. But, if that's the biggest error, then this article is pretty good.
One of the best (and worst) things about craft beer is that there are so many different breweries throughout the country, many of which you can't sample unless you live close by. So how do you get a chance to sample some brews not available in your area? Well, you could do like Devon and I did in Devon and Jeff Drink the East Coast and drive a few thousand miles... But a better, and much easier, alternative may just be to join a beer of the month club!
I received my first Beer of the Month Club membership from my then roommate as a birthday present. It was Clubs of America's Beer of the Month Club. I got quite a few delicious brews which I had never tried before... one was even Sweetwater Brewing's 420 IPA, which I didn't get to try again until Devon and I drove down to Atlanta. It was a little easier to have it shipped to me. I would definitely recommend a beer of the month club, such as this one, so check it out! Go to our Beer of the Month Club Comparison, figure out which is right for you and then wait for the craft beer to come to you!
So between starting a new brewery, self distributing, winner an award for cask beer at the Great British Beer Fest (Silver for their porter), the guys over at Mayflower Brewing Co. have been pretty busy. So what better to do in that situation than brew your first seasonal?!
On September 2nd Director of Brewing Operations Matt Steinberg and Assistant Brewer Ryan Gwozdz will mash in on their first seasonal beer. It's going to be a super-appropriately named Mayflower Thanksgiving Ale. What's so special about it? Well let's see... It's going to have oats, rye, flaked barley and much more... 40 IBUs of East Kent Golding, yum... a secret yeast (damn you and your secrets, Matt!)... and it will all be aged on American Oak Spirals with a light toast. Oh, and it clocks in at 6.5% abv.
Way to put together what sounds like it will be a delicious beer without going hop or alcohol crazy! This should be something you can drink during Thanksgiving Dinner that won't put you to sleep faster than the meal itself. They're looking for a style similar to American Old Ale/Strong Ale, "malty and earthy with subtle spiciness." Sounds like it'll go with turkey and mashed potatoes pretty well. We'll have a full report when we taste it.
Ok ok, so perhaps there's a bit of a catch to this. With InBev's recent acquistion of Anheuser-Busch the last of the big 3 (Miller, Coors, A-B) is now also owned by a foreign company. This acquisition has put put Sam Adam's into the #1 spot as the top American Owned brewery.
Smuttynose Brewery, currently located in Portsmouth, NH, has just confirmed that they will be changing location to Hampton, NH. For a while Smuttynose has been looking to expand in Portsmouth, and the city government has refused to approve their plans. They will soon be moving to 105 Towle Farm Road in Hampton, NH.
The 14 acre property that will be their new location features a 42,000 square foot brewery as well as a barn to be turned into a restaurant. Personally, I'm wondering what they'll do with the 14 acres? If there is a God, they'll grow hops and put our a Fresh Hop beer!
Lastly, according to President Peter Egelston, the building will be in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified.
Personally, we here at DrinkCraftBeer.com can't wait for them to up their capacity and have a restaurant! I know we'll be there when it opens!
MillerCoors LLC is ending testing of its trio of craft styles of top seller Miller Lite so it can rethink the brand, the company told distributors this week.
The so-called Miller Lite Brewing Collection didn't perform as well as expected in test markets such as Baltimore, Minneapolis and Charlotte, N.C., spokesman Julian Green said Thursday.
You may recall us reporting Bell's departure from the Illinois market due to issues with distributers a ways back. Well the good people of Chicago can finally have their Two Hearted Ale, Epedition Stout and the many other very tasty brews from Bell's brewery back. It would appear that Bell's is working with three new distributers. This runs contrary to every other Illinois law we've seen in the past so we're still digging for a bit more info on this.
Full news article here: http://cbs2chicago.com/local/bells.beer.returns.2.785599.html
